Golf-practice device



Aug. 24,1926. 1,597,301 Y. i G. BETUNI` i GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE v Filed Feb. 24. 192'; 2 sheets-sm 1 Rc) Ilm *MMI ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 24 1926. 1,597,307

INVENTog.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 24, 1926.

` GI'ANNIBETTINI, or NEW Yonx, N. x.

` Gom-PRACTICE DEVICE.`

Application led February 24, 1923. Serial No. 620,916.

This

invention is a novel golf practice device, and the main Objectis `to provide a simple, inexpensive and durable device by which the various strokes employedin the game of golf may be practiced in a restrict ed space. Another object is to employ the principle of a captive ball in suchr a way as to give freedom in the making of the strokewith the various clubs used in golf, for the purpose of training on various shots. An-

other object is to afford a `measure of the:

speed of the struck `ball and the probable distance of travel.l A` further object is to give a-much better measure of the distance of a drive or other shot by indicating `the elevation or upward slantof the driven ball, this being very important not only in driving for distance but also in the matter of surmounting hazards, etc. The combined measures of speed and elevation afford a very goodestimate Vof the eifectiveness of the stroke as regards' distance attained. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be pointed out in thefollowingl description of one specific illustrationor embodiment or `will be apparent to those ,Y ball whirls around the. base.

skilled in the art. To the attainment of suchobjects and advantages the present invention consists in the novel device, mechanism, combinations, arrangements and details herein described or illustrated.

`In the accompanying` drawings Fig. 1 is` ka vertical section of a golf practice device embodying theprinciples of the present in vention. The cable or tether is shown broken away to indicate a greater length, and in repose the' ball will rest not as indicated in full lines, but on the floor at a point sev eral feet from the base. During its circu- Alar travel the ball will whirl around at an elevated point, not as indicated in dotted lines, but with the tether extending out and up at an angle, the.` device itself taking a position as indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 isa top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1. p

Fig. 3 is a `sideelevation of thefentire device lshowing how the tether `and ball will stand when in readiness to make a stroke.

The base 3 is shown as having an upright hollow post 4 on the top of which rotates a table or disk 5." 'This rotary table carries the mechanism to which the tether is attached and the table rotates as the traveling This table might take various forms but isl shown as a circular disk mounted at the upper end of a depending Vshaft 6, which extends down through the hollow of the post 4` and has a head or enlargement 7 attached to its lower end. This enlargement serves as ameans for the attachment of a flexible shaft 8 servmeasuring the speed or travel of the ball. The opposite end of the shaft 8 may pass into a xed bearing 9 where it is arranged to turn a worm 10 acting upon a worm wheel 11 mounted on a short shaft` or stud 12, which extends through from the interior of the base to a visiblepoint at the` exterior.

The stud 12 is extended in the form ofaV threaded rod 13 and on this rod is loosely mounted the indexpointer or finger 14, with a spring washer 15 between the pointer and the stud. ,A thumbnut or adjuster 16 is shown surrounding the threaded rod 13 and attached to the linger 14, and a holding screw 17 maintains the parts in position. By this arrangement the rotation of the table 5 dueto the whirling travel ofthe ball is communicated to the pointer l4land this travels around a conveniently graduated scale 18 in which the indicationsmay rough-` ly be arranged to indicate the number of yards of travel. trated tether, cfa length` for indoor use, may be replaced by alonger one, for outdoor use, the scale 18 may have two sets of indications, corresponding to the ratio of the circumferences of travel of the indoor and outdoor ,tethers respectively. As` before stated, the actual travel of the driven ball will depend not onl on its speed, which willlargely control the reading on scale 18, but on its elevation, to be measured, as will later be described. Therefore,

Describing now the means by whichthel captive ball is connected, the rotary table 5 is shown as provided with a pair of up` standing plates 19 `forming a two-sided,

bracket.. A pivot or pin 20 extends through ing as a transmitting `means to convey the` rotary motion to the `index or device for` In `order that the illus-H lthe player` after observing the distance indicated on scale 18, about 288 yards in Fig. 2, will make` these plates andconstitutesa fulcrum for a swinging arm 21 'to whichthe tether and ball are attached. It will be noticed that this arm slants downwardly from the pivot.

Vin .F igs. land 2. Fig. 3 shows an alternative arrangement, the tether 25 carried through theeye 2a and thence directly to the hook VBtwhich is. near the verticall axis of a rotation ofthe device. This hook 36 4is also indicated. inFig. l, but Aisnot in use. This arrangement givesa better action.v Vhen the. ball is struck, the lift ofthe ball first carries it to aheight such as yindicated in dottedlines in Fig. 3, this action adjusting thev index. 31, 32 toishow the elevation. Thereupon the continued .whirling of the ball will be: at a lower level, for example,

f substantially at the point 27a inFig. 3.

vThe tether 25, rat-herthan being a .cord

of fibrous material is preferablyv a cable orV flexibleshaft constructed of metal and possibly hollow. It may be asubstantial duplicate of the flexible shaft 8, before mentioned,

and its characteristics are that while it will bend toa certain degree its tendency is to straighten and it is lnot extensible or twistable, The tether. is formed with a ring which is engaged with the curled hook 22 and the tether then passes through the eye 24; and is of several feet in length, perhaps four feet more or less. At its end it is provided with a headed pin 26 on which the 9 golf ball 27 is loosely fitted, the-ball being perforated for Vthis purpose, and a nut 28 serving to hold theball upon the pin. By

this rotary mounting of the ball it. is capable ofspinning during flight without any twisteffect upon the tether.

The rotary table 5 isshown also as being provided `at its opposite side witha counterweight 29, which-may. be `tixed to the bracket 19 and serves the double purpose of partly i' 4lcounteractimg the centrifugal force of the u tion in the device.

hall, vthe yweight being heavier ybut with a shorter radius, and increasing the momentum` so as tov give a more efrici-:ntV action, minimizing the retarding effect of the fric- `While the index forthe speed or. travel of the ball is preferably mounted` onthe base, on the contrary the contrivance or! index for lmeasuring the elevation of the balls tra- :if jectoriyis preferably mounted at thel top 'of the device,l above the rotary table 5. It will heimderstood .that when lthe driven ball rises in the air as it starts its circular Jflight it will lift the tether end through it the armV 21, these parts assuming an upward slant which'con'stitutes a measure of the elevation of the stroke. The fact thatl the arm 21 is pivoted at 20 permits this upswinging movement. This possesses another importa11t.function, namely that it minimizes any tendency of the traveling ball to vibrate upwardly ,and downwardlyv as it travels around. The arm will swing up to ,this position in accordance with the elevation ot the stroke. l A shot with a lofter will give a-greater elevation than a driver, and aV mashie a greater elevation than a lofter if` the club is` properly handled, and this. invention gives a measure of thisfact.y 1n Fig. 1in dotted lines the arm andtether .are

indicatedas elevated to a point which isI measured at 25. on the scale, to be described. 1t will be understood that the. first part of the tether is shown substantially in proper position, but beyondthe eye 24 `the tether should continue in a straight upwardly in: clined direction to indicate the ballin flight. As will be explained, when the ball has come to rest the elevating arm is retained in its elevated position and the dotted lilies in Fig. l may be considered as indicating this posi.- tion, the-ball however resting idly on the ground since the tether is 4considerably longer than in the drawing, as indicated by` the break in its length.

For measuring the elevation there isV attached to the bracket 19 an upstanding plateA or quadrant` 30 provided with a scale or graduations 31. -The arm 2l is .providedwitha hngcr orindicator 32, which stands.

atzero in full lines at Fig. 1, but in the elef rated dotted position stands at 25. Vhether. or not the degrees marked on this scale represent the actual elevation o-f the stroke, they give a measure of the elevation anda means of comparison between different strokes inorder to obtain perfection. Ob-VV viously the scale could be regraduated in any desired manner.

-Nhen the ball is struck and starts its. whirling travel, tautening the tether 25, theV arm, thetether and the ballall stand out from the pivot 20 `in a straight line. Thisv elevated position is what ismeasured `by. this invention so. as to give a'measure of the ele-,.v vation of the. stroke. The .measure would be lost if the arm were allowed Yto,V swing downwardly, but in this inventionan arrangement is provided ,which retains the indication of the elevation, so. that when the@ apparatus has come to rest'the-player. can examine the scale 81 to gain an indication of the elevation of hisstroke. For this purpose Vpreterably the arm 2l`itself is held up" to its elevated position. It is shown as ,pre1Y n vided with a ratchet wheel or segment 3:3 located. at the outerside. of; one: ofthe:

bracket plates 19 and secured upon the pivot shaft 20. In connection with this ratchet is a spring lifted pawl 34. The dotted lines indicate how the ratchet has traveled along the pawl and is held with the arm' 21 in elevated position. The ratchet may be formed with finer teeth than as shown to give a more accurate measure. The pawl is provided with an extension or handle which may be depressed to allow the arm to drop and restore the parts to zero.

The operation has been suliiciently described, but may be explained further as follows. The ball will be laid upon the floor or a suitable support severalfeet away from the base 3. The player will stand facing the base 3 and in line with the tether 25 so that his stroke will be tangential to the circular path the ball is to take. The ball is driven or lifted, as desired, rand it rises to varying heights above the lioor and travels rapidly around the base of the machine, finally slowing down and coming to rest. The player then reads the two indexes to acquire a measure of the distance of travel, and the elevation. He then depresses the finger 35 to restore the arm to zero andturns the thumb nut 16, by `which the finger 14 may be brought back to zero, due to tliefriction between the finger and the shaft 12.

Many matters ofcombination, design and arrangement may be variously modified without departing from the principles involved and it is not intended to limit the invention to such matters except so far as p set forth in the appended claims.

lVhat is claimed is: 1. In a golf practice device, a base, an upright thereon, a rotatable member on said upright, an outstanding arm connected to said rotatable member and capable of swinging upwardly, a flexible ball tether con- Vnected with said arm, an indicator operated according to the rotation of the rotatable member to give a measure of forward tra-vel, and a separate indicator operated by the upswing of the arm to give a measure of the balls elevation.

2. In a golf practice device, a base, an upright shaft rotatably mounted above said lbase, an upswinging arm mounted at the upper end of said shaft, a tether and ball secured to said arm', an indicator on the base actuated from said shaftto measure the balls forward travel, and an indicator at said arm to measure its upswing and the balls elevation.

3. In combination, a base, a post thereon, a rotatable table on said post, an arm, tether and ball connected to said table, a dial indicator on the base, and a rotatable connection betweenV said table and indicator.

4. Combination as in claim 3 and wherein theV connection between the table and basedial comprises, an upright shaft below the table, a flexible shaft turned by said upright shaft, and a speed-reduction gear, such as worm and wheel between the flexible shaft and indicator.

5. Combination as in claim 3 and wherein is a friction or slip connection, enabling the indicator to be reset to zero.

6. In a golf practice device, a base, an upright thereon, a rotatable member on said upright, an upswinging arm connected to said rotatable member, and a fiexible ball tether connected with said arm; said upswinging arm normally slanting downward toward a distant point on the Hoor and having releasable means for detaining it `in elevated position.

7. In a golf practice device, a base, a rotatable member supporting said base, an outstanding arm connected to said member and capable of swinging upwardly, said arm having a spring extension with an eye thereon, and a flexible ball tether passing through said eye and secured to said arm nearer to the center of rotation.

8. In a golf practice device, a base with a post thereon, a revolving member on the lpost, an outstanding arm carried by the member, and a ball tether connected to said arm consisting of a metallic iexible shaft or cable, resistant to substantial iiexing, nonstretchable and non-twistable.

In testimony whereof, I have aixed my signature hereto. v

GIANNI BETTINI. 

